1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to automatic clothes dryers and more particularly to an improved device and method for testing the air flow characteristics in automatic clothes dryers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most automatic clothes dryers now utilize a drum rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis in which clothes to be dried are placed. During operation of the clothes dryer, air is heated, either electrically or by gas and passed through the drum while the drum is being rotated to tumble the clothes and effect drying thereof. The heated air passing through the drum is subsequently expelled outside the machine and usually the machine is vented through a wall to the outdoor atmosphere. If the air flow of an automatic clothes dryer is reduced to the extent that the flow rate cannot carry the water out of the dryer as fast as the heat source is capable of evaporating the water, then the drying process will be slowed and the drum temperature elevated to a point that drying efficiency will be reduced. Because of the detrimental effects of insufficient air flow through the drum it is highly desirable to have a means of measuring the air flow rate while the drum is rotating and compare it to a chart indicating what the correct air flow rate should be. By testing the air flow through the drum it may be determined whether or not there are problems with the sealing of the drum, if the blower is able to produce an adequate flow of air, and whether the duct work is sufficient to handle the correct rate of air flow.
It is desirable that a device and method for testing the air flow characteristics of a clothes dryer be one that may be easily used and will function while the machine is in operation and the drum rotating. Such a device and method for testing the air flow through a clothes dryer is particularly advantageous in connection with making field tests as a result of a service call due to malfunction of the clothes dryer.
By my invention there is provided an improved device and method for testing the rate of air flow through an automatic clothes dryer drum while it is rotating which device and method is simple, and easy to use.